Gruen transfer

In shopping mall design, the Gruen transfer (also known as the Gruen effect) is the moment when consumers enter a shopping mall or store and, surrounded by an intentionally confusing layout, lose track of their original intentions, making them more susceptible to making impulse buys.

[1][2][3] The Gruen transfer is a psychological phenomenon in which an idealised hyperreality is realized by deliberate reconstruction, providing a sense of safety and calm through exceptional familiarity.

"[6] The psychologists involved in these studies found that the size and appearance of such a shopping center have a special pull effect on customers.

[7][8] Supermarkets, for example in the food industry, also use the experience of the Gruen effect to slow things down, to direct attention when placing products, or to confuse the business through frequent remodeling.

[11] In 1952, Dayton Company commissioned Victor Gruen to build the first indoor, climate controlled shopping mall, Southdale Center,[12] in Edina, Minnesota.